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Friday, 27 November 2009

I was just reviewing my life over the past 22 years and I found that I had missed out a small part of my life from my memory. It was a 15 day experience that I had after I completed my life at SSBJ, went to Bangalore in search of a job, got a job, left it and came back to Hubli and before I left Hubli to go to Bangalore for CA Coaching at Medhas Institute. I was sitting idle at home and had nothing to do and I saw an ad of a job opening at Asterix BPO. The sight of the word BPO amused me with a question if BPOs did exist in Hubli. I thought of trying out and went ahead for the so called interview. I met Mr Venkatesh who was the owner of Asterix Computers which was primarily started to sell computers. Now, it did less computer selling and more of various other activities like computer education, computer servicing, providing OHPs for functions, etc, etc, etc. Though this was the communication I received, I honestly could not see anything other the OHP renting happening

No Hurray for being selected as it was not a tough deal with only one person coming there for the interview. Even if any number of people had come, I would easily manage to get through

And thus, I was appointed for a pay of Rs 4000 a month. The job was to call the big list of people and inform them about a new club house that was being constructed in Hubli. The name of the place was Cotton County Club and it is located right opposite to the airport in Gokul, Hubli. The membership fee was Rs 40000 at that time. I began the calling. Most of the times, the response was negative. I managed to catch hold of some people and arrange an appointment. I was supposed to someone to meet these people and explain them. But then, that someone never came and I only had to adore the role of that someone. Hubli is a small city and it was not a big thing. I still remember the first outdoor sale initiative that I took. It was to meet an owner of an automobile shop (I am desperately trying to remember the name but my memory is playing a game) located just opposite the petrol pump near old bus stand. It was too cold of an effort. I went and called out his name. He asked me my name and upon knowing why I came, he just took the brochure and said that he will call me (which never happened though). I walked back to my so called office which happened to be very near in Neeligin Road. It makes me laugh when I remember this incident

The next one was a chartered accountant. His office is right opposite the Janata Bazar near traffic island. If my memory is serious, his name is Mr. Kothari. This was one funny incident. I stepped in to his chamber. I was speaking to him and I got a call from my dad. I just swtiched off my cell and kept it on the table. Seeing that, this man took out his highly sophisticated Nokia mobile and another mobile and put them both on the table. I did not understand what this gesture meant. Whether it meant that I respect your decision of keeping your mobile away and here I keep mine as well or did it mean that you have a bloody double one double zero mobile and see what I have. Either way, I could not stop myself from taking the cellphone & keeping it back in my pocket. I told him some information which he never heard. After everything, he told me that I am a kid (of course, I was 18 then) and I must get someone elder to speak. This happened around 4 pm and at 6 pm, I was back with Mr. Venkatesh and another person from CCC (Cotton County Club). I believe it was one amongst the eight directors. If my memory can really support me, I remember that the main director of the CCC was Dr. Venkatesh Moolimani (I am not sure of the surname) who worked in KIMS (Later I discovered that this person was my neighbour), Mr. Shankar Belgavi (Owner, Renuka Sweets), Mr Sunil Kalra (I hope I have the name right. I am sure of Kalra but not Sunil, a businessman. I went to his shop after knowing him to purchase clothes for me and my dad. We did purchase. But we never went back), 2 brothers (I guess the surname was Hebsur) who were doctors and the rest are not coming to my mind now. Coming back to Mr. Kothari, I was instructed to sit outside and they had a chat in his chamber. The outcome was appearing positive though I never got to know if it was a successful close or not

I am sure it has started appearing like I might have spent a year here but I just spent 15 days. I had also been to the office of CCC at Hosur in Hebsur Kalyan Mantap. I visited at least 3-4 times. In a couple of visits, everyone got so friendly with me that I was offered to directly work for them for a higher pay. I was invited to see the CCC (though it did not happen as I left before the scheduled date of visit)

Soon came a decision by my dad that I should go for CA Coaching at Medhas Institute, Vijaynagar, Bangalore. I had to resign (Stop laughing). Now, the big question. Salary? I was there for an exact 15 days. With the kind of person I knew of the owner of Asterix BPO (which existed only by name), a person who worked for entire month also would receive salary after heavy bullshitting and butchering on the payment. So, this 15 day pay was a dream far from being true. Yet, I was serious as I did not even earn from my previous job at Mphasis BPO as it was found after 3 weeks that I was less than 18 years of age and I should get out. Now that I was more than 18, I had to get my pay. Mathematically, I had to receive Rs 2000. I claimed for it and Mr. Venkatesh started ignoring me keeping his hand on his forehead. There was this one girl (I dont remember her name) who was her PA. I pestered her a lot and she spoke to him only to get scolded. I was told that the company rules do not permit them to make payment to me as I have not worked for the minimum work period to get the salary, i.e., one month. I burst out asking if they were a company or a bunch of people fooling around. It was a little silly and arrogant but not receiving the money which I deserved after serious and honest efforts was hurting

I don't know how this popped up to my mind suddenly and I planned to write about it. Life is a very exciting journey and with people like me, it just turns excessively exciting at times and at all times. There are many such things that have been happening which I plan to write down in the coming days. Sometimes, I just can't believe that, once upon a time, life was like this

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Did you know that average age at which corporate Indians are facing heart problems? Someone told me its 28 and a half years. I thought it must be a confusion and the reference, may be, was to the minimum rather than average. But then, I got a clarification that it is the average. Also a clarification that young people in the age 22-25 are already experiencing heartaches (not the ones caused by love, bonding, etc but the original heart problems). We all get our bikes and vehicles serviced every 3rd month. A bike costing merely Rs 50000 gets so much attention in our lives. Whats the value of this human life? Did you ever service your body? Perhaps, you never thought of it. Even in the worst of cases when the body coughs, shows high temperature and tells us, "Come on, take me to a doc", we tell it, "Take a tab and sleep well, you will be fine by tomorrow". The human body is a machine that runs by itself. But an effort by us to contribute to its running will increase its efficiency tremendously

The moment your corporate life began, you forgot taking care of yourself. All you live for is your company. You have forgotten the fact that the company has hired you for 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. You have 16 hours a day on weekdays and 24 hours a day on weekends for you. But then, you never did utilize it for your life. This time was either spent to ease tiredness or doing some extra work or some other commitment. Have you ever sat and introspected about you? Though the most important element of my life is me, I never thought of me

Exercising is a very important activity. I would not waste time in explaining its importance as everyone knows it. But, no one does it. Did you ever try to find out how your heart is? Whats its condition? Go and get a Lipid Profile Test done. You will get all the motivation to join a gym now

With this brief introduction, I welcome you to the narration of my experience at a Personal Effectiveness Program. Of course, the program was sponsored by ICICI Bank and I was supposed to attend with another 19 of my colleagues. It was scheduled on 20 & 21 Nov 09 at The Grand Solitaire Hotel, Secunderabad. I was supposed to reach there by 9 am and I did. The sessions were taken by Ms. Aisshwarya. She is a resident of Chennai and runs her own company by name Worksenses. She has a PG from Symbiosis in HR and various international certifications. She has been into IT training for 8 years and HR training for 6 years, a massive total of 14 years of dealing with new human beings each day. The concepts that we shall be going through would be Effective, Time Management, Process and Assertiveness

For every product, there is a need for a production capacity. The product is the end result while the production capacity is the reason for this end result to be achieved. We all dream. Dreams may come true. It saddens us when they dont. But what must actually sadden is that we do not have the ability to make the dream come true. And the focus must be on this ability and not the dream. Dream is merely the result. Job is the focus and money is the end result. One must make efforts to improve his production capacity. Any effort to only see the product will make us lose. Remember the story of The Goose that laid Golden Eggs. While the eggs symbolically represent the product, the goose represents the production capacity. The hasty farmer, expecting to get all the eggs in a single go, tears the goose into 2 parts only to see it dead. Rather, he must have concentrated on improving his production capacity and do something by which the goose could lay 2 or more golden eggs a day. He could have tried to clone it. He could have tried to cross breed. But, he foolishly lost the production capacity concentrating on the product. Had he focused on the Production Capacity, he would be a winner. These days, there are 3 major spheres that we need to deal with- Physical, Mental & Relationships. All these three have certain value and need to be dealt with a lot of care

A study of the circle of influence and circle of concern was done describing how we affect other people and vice versa. We can either pass on our influences to them or our concerns as well. So, its more important for us to develop influences for better results

A video titled "Even Eagles Need A Push" by David Mcnally was shown. It was a learning experience. We were told about the 5 qualities of a Confident Empowered person

Self Appreciation

Vision

Purpose

Commitment

Contribution

An example of Terry Fox was shown who suffered from cancer and had lost his one leg. He ran across for thousands of miles across US to raise funds for cancer research. He could have easily given an ad in the newspaper or TV to raise funds. But he ran to show that you can run even with one leg. He could have used funds to cure cancer but his aim was to remove cancer from the roots and the funds were aimed at cancer research. With such a vision, he wanted to raise USD 1 million while for his big surprise, he ended up with USD 14 million

The basic management concept of time management deals with the concept of urgency and importance quadrants. There are four quadrants: Urgent & Important- DO, Urgent & Not Important- DEVELOP, Not Urgent but Important- AVOID, Neither Urgent nor Important- DROP. One must try to follow this principle to make effective utilization of time

A learning about process was done through various role plays. A boat making exercise laid emphasis on how processes are important for an organization. Organizations must always be process dependent and not person dependent. Else, they will cease to exist in the long term as persons do not live forever

Assertiveness- The art of saying NO was learnt. However, from the practical perspective, saying no to the manager has huge concerns. Many a times, we need these 5 minute breaks to take an urgent call, some concern when you are not keeping well, you might get a minute late, you might need approval for some cost incurred, etc. All this is in the manager's hand. A no to him would mean a no to you as well. And with the kind of managers who have gone to that position just because there was availability at some point of time and luck picked them irrespective of their qualification or knowledge or experience, it becomes impossible to say no. Yet, we learnt certain principles that help in being assertive

Be honest about what is relevant

Stick to your bottomline

Make sure you are negotiating in equal terms

The entire program was full of many role plays and group activities that made it a fun learning experience. Such breaks away from work add a lot of value to the employees. It acts as a huge motivation for them to perform well. Someone asking you to take care of your health and life and concentrate on family, etc is something that we never hear at work. A feel good element inspires people to take initiatives in life to move ahead. There was a lot of learning and a good value addition. My sincere thanks to everyone who made this possible. I have decided to go to a gym soon (I have been planning ever since 2003) and a lipid profile test done too. I have even planned to take my body for regular servicing. When will you?

Thursday, 19 November 2009

For the first time in my life, I had my own cellphone and it was a Nokia 1100- Made for India. At that time, I was in Bangalore and I had just joined Mphasis BPO. And I needed a cellphone. Having just begun my career, I chose this mainly because of the cost factor. It fetched me 3200 rupees at that time. The price has come down to around 2000 now but at that point of time, it was worth it. I also heard news that the production of this model has been stopped now. I am not sure about this.

Coming to the cell, it was a pretty good looking, compact version with quite good features. The USP of the product was its torchlight and its strong body which were meant for the Indian conditions. I liked using the mobile. A black and white screen with some attractive options of ringtones, picture messaging, etc was something new and delightful in those days. I was happy with it till it was stolen by my housemaid in my hometown- Hubli. :-)

Nice experience. If I had not lost the cell, I would be still using the same. As on now, I am using Nokia 1600 and I like that too

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

After a tiring examination of Chartered Accountancy, PE-II, I was looking for something to refresh myself. On having discussed the same with my friends, we decided to go out for a lunch. Phat! Came a suggestion.

Why not watch a movie and then go for lunch? Hmmm... Good idea. The last one I saw was Dhoom 2. We agreed and started discussing. Good boy Bad boy, Tararumpum and some other names came up. But the winner was Spiderman 3

It all began with the introduction of the history of spiderman. I was very happy to see the story of spiderman till now. Its one of the most brilliant ideas the director has come up with. Instead of just showing the characters and heavy music, he has given a jhalak of Spidey 1 and Spidey 2

The movie was good. However, its made too too too ... complicated (Have they employed any Indian director to work on the script? :-) ) The kind of behavior and attitude shown in the movie is somewhat unworthy. Spidey kisses some other gal and the heroine gets frustrated. She goes on looking for someone and finally ends up with the man who is a friend of Spidey but due to certain reasons, he has become his enemy. However, the affair just stops with a kiss when she realizes that she was doing wrong. Further, we see a Sandman who has a very funny character (although he has played a villain, I call the character funny because of my personal opinion). Even he is against Spidey. There is another guy who’s a coworker of Spidey. Even he gets against Spidey due to Spidey’s interruption. In fact, the coworker was doing wrong things and that's why, Spidey goes against him.

So, Spidey has 3 enemies now

Even his girlfriend gets frustrated because of him. And all this happens due to the black chemical thing which has caught Spidey and made him make misuse of his powers and also become egoistic. The story goes on well. Finally it so happens that all these enemies get together to take revenge on Spidey. However, the first person(the one who I have told to be Spidey’s friend but has become an enemy due to misunderstandings) realizes that he was wrong.

The sequel is too sexy. As usual, all the big fights in the world have happened for a lady :-)

The heroine is held by Sandman and the journalist. When Spidey realized that the black chemical is killing him, he throws it away and the journalist gets it. So, the journalist and Sandman plan to catch Spidey and finish the game. They hold the heroine as hostage and Spidey comes to rescue her. The whole of New York city is watching everything. Spidey gets hit by them very badly. People feel that its the end of Spiderman. But then, things take a turn when his friend comes to his rescue. Both fight against them and (obviously) win the game. The sad thing being that Spidey’s friend lays down his life to save Spidey. Even the journalist gets killed. Sandman heads away from the world after telling his story to Spidey and apologizing

Things go sweet and Spidey gets back his girlfriend and finally, he presents that ring given by the old lady to her

Now, what was this all about? Its very simple. The movie portrays some common issues to us. Its about relationships. Its about telling how even a great person like spiderman can be caught by evil thoughts. It tells us that we need to give time to our loved ones when they need us. Duty does come first, but love should not be ignored. Even love is a duty. Ego is yet another thing that can spoil the whole world. The movie has good lessons to teach

The movie is pictured beautifully and children have a blast at theatres. The USP of Spidey is the love of kids for this character. And the funniest thing for me was I watched the movie in Hindi and I have just narrated a few lines which will make you ROFL

Monday, 16 November 2009

Well, hope everyone noticed that the topic is-5 best songs I would sing to my beloved but I am writing on the topic- 5 best songs I sang to my beloved.... Bole toh! Experience beta, experience

Nothing is bigger in this world than experience

I was in a residential school. Only boys. We were all army chaps. Strong, athletic, handsome:-). So, any gal getting attracted to us was common. Hehehe... Joking! But seriously, in case we met gals, there would definitely some or the other hungama. There were many too but not in my life

dheere dheere hawa chal rahi haijaise koi ghazal ban rahi haichupke chupke nazar mil rahi haijhukte uthte palak yeh keh rahi haioh jaana lets fall in loveoh jaana
And then this falling getsdeeper and deeper. So deep that people start forgetting their names. 24X7, just love on the mind. Even demons and college gundas will start wearing good dress and become nice gentlemen. Seriously, I saw a person who had not had a haircut from 8 to 9 years and his mom n scolded him everyday. But the moment, the gal told him-Tum inn baaloan mein achche nahin dikhte ho, the whole scene changed. My God, he had a haircut, wore a white shirt n blue formal n came and ........ hold your breath.... he came and ....... just think what he did ...... he came and ...... attended ONE CLASS. That was such a day, even my lecturer was shivering and he ended the class 15 mins in advance :-) All this because that gal told him that she would not see him if he doesnt cut his hair

Yeh le mere 4th rocking song

Jaana jaanaDekha nahin hai tujhko kal sePal pal kate mera mushkil seAa poochh le zara is dil seJaanaRaahon ko tere main takta hoonJee jeeke main yahan marta hoonMain pyaar bas tujhe karta hoonJaana JaanaSamjhaoon main kaise is dil koJaanaYe maane naJaanaYe samjhe na
And as usual. Wahi purani nayi kahaani. I would not explain this much coz..... my heart will cry...... kyun...... same wine in the old bottle..... she left me :-( ..... he dumped me..... and all these things and the wasteful usage of 3 precious years of life. Thats why people do well in 12th, fail in degree and again shine in PG

He comes the concluding song putting an end to eevrything and saying that you are my love and you will always remian(till the next one comes)

No information is meant to hurt anyone. Its just educational. And a general tendency that I have observed in my college as well as the many other colleges too. Note that every song is takes the word- jaana. Jaana! is a dream, say something like Maaya in Dil Toh Paagal Hai. However, I have made the story meet the general happenings in our college. I never sang any of these songs to anyone.

Ek baras purane ki baath hai bhaiyya. Bahut dhoop thi. The sun was scorching and made me not to get out of my home. Arey! Hum kya kum hai, hum jaate rahe. But walking in this hot sun for around 5 km to college and back was a tough stuff. Seeing this, my dad felt pity on me and told me to purchase a vehicle. We went to the showroom and I chose to buy a Bajaj Pulsar

However, due to certain financial obligations, we were unable to purchase the bike then

Later, in the rainy season, however, the rain God, Varuna, showered his blessed raindrops on me and I got fever. Fever and blessing?Yeah obviously, the very next day I was taken to the showroom to buy a vehicle for me. Vrooooooooommmmmmmmm..................

I was told by dad that we could not afford to buy a Pulsar. So, I had to make a choice among the other ones. I did not like any vehicle. I was told by the salesman that a new vehicle was getting launched the next day. I returned home. I was watching TV and this ad came, Jhalak Dikhlaja! Bajaj Platina. Oh my God! I just loved the ad. The way it was pictured. The way the lights went flashing. The way how the gal n guy went moving. It was all like...... heaven

I went to the showroom and had a test drive. I liked it and we purchased the vehicle.

I have been using it for a year now and I have liked it, in face, loved it. Coming to the experience

Unlike other 100cc vehicles, this vehicle has a stronger pick up. It can easily race over the hill in the 3rd gear(single person) and 2nd gear(2 persons). However, for my dad’s splendor, I need to cut down to gear 1

The vehicle is comfortable. Its definitely as comfortable as Unicorn or CBZ Xtreme, but compared to other 100 cc bikes, its quite comfortable

The gear changing is quite easy with 4 frontal gear to speed up and 4 back gears to slow down

The servicing offered by my dealer is too good. I am very happy by their support. However, one disappointing thing is that they offer only 4 free services after which the charge is Rs 125. This is the policy of Bajaj Motorcycles and I wish, they could upgrade this. Because other companies offer 6 to 8 free services

Coming to the sexiest point in the vehicle. Believe it or not, I am getting an average mileage of 80 kms on this vehicle. I was told by the dealer that the mileage will be over 75 kms. To test the truth of this fact, I have maintained the fuel records too

Up to first servicing- 56 km per litre

From 1st servicing to 2nd servicing- 71 km per litre

From 2nd servicing to 3rd servicing- 82 km per litre

From 3rd servicing to 4th servicing- 81 km per litre

Now, I will get the next reading when I go to the 5th servicing

And I am saving a lot of money which unnecessarily go out for petrol cost of I had taken a higher end model(150 cc)As far as reliability is concerned, its a user’s delight. 100% reliable. No breakdowns, no problems, nothing. Just a blessing

Handling and control is excellent. The brakes are too good. I feel like its stronger than disk brakes(or its due to my strength, God knows) And as far as control is concerned, i understood one very good thing after taking this vehicle. using a 100 cc bike prevents me from over speeding. The traffic in cities is so high that I see accidents happen every day. In case, I am driving my friend’s Unicorn, Pulsar or karizma or any strong vehicle, it tempts me to speed up and makes driving risky. However, its very simple, smooth driving with this vehicle

In short and simple words, this vehicle from Bajaj Autos is an excellent version in the 100 cc vehicles category. I was told by the dealer that they had record sales during Ramzan and Diwali last year. People loved the vehicle because of its

Low cost

No maintenance

High mileage- I have saved so much of petrol money as my pocket money

Good looks (in its category)

Superb pick up

Finally, to conclude, its been a good experience using this vehicle. Its an integral part of my life now. It has made a lot comfortable to me and I am glad that I chose to purchase this